Charles Toby Williams (born May 9, 1977), commonly known by his stage name Keak da Sneak, is a rapper from Oakland, California. At the age of 16 he was known as Z-Kush,[1] but he became known as "Keak da Sneak" at 17, best known for his scratchy, gruff rapping voice and coining the term "hyphy" in 1994.

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Keak da Sneak was born in Alabama where most of his family is from. He found popularity while attending Allendale Elementary School, which he parlayed into later friendships and talent show performances at Oakland's Bret Harte Junior High. Through theater he met his collaborator Agerman.[2] Together, they formed Dual Committee, which, at the age of 15, was first heard on the songs "Murder Man" & "Stompin in My Steel Toes" on C-BO's 1994 EP The Autopsy. Citing the personal growth of all three artists, he later signed as a solo artist with Sacramento-based Moe Doe records.[3] At this point, he began to receive more radio airplay, especially on San Francisco hip-hop station KMEL. He has collaborated with major artists such as E-40, Daz Dillinger, Akon, MC Hammer, Mac Dre, Prodigy, Alchemist, Lil Wayne, and all Major Bay Area Artists. He collaborates and tours with his DJ "E-Tech" from the SBC DJ's, associated with KMEL DJ Rick "The Dragon" Lee/ SBC DJ's San Francisco. Keak has had videos played on MTV, MTV2 & BET. Keak was even featured on MTV's My Super Sweet 16.[4]

By the end of their junior year in high school, they had added rapper B.A. to form the group 3X Krazy. Their first EP, Sick-O, was released independently on August 5, 1995. In 1996 they signed to Virgin Records, releasing the album Stackin' Chips on March 8, 1997 (with help from the single Keep It on the Real; the album received national attention), and the second album Immortalized, and then the release of Real Talk 2000 on January 18, 2000.[5] The last 3X Krazy album, a collection of previously unreleased material and remixed songs from Sick-O, was flowamatic-9, which was released in 2004.